Oil Could See Its Biggest Supply Shock Since 1973

The global oil market was tight even before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but Putin’s war and its consequences on Russian crude supply and energy prices have the potential to hurl the market into a major supply shock comparable with the 1973 Arab oil embargo.  Oil stocks in major oil-consuming developed economies, including in the United States, have been falling steadily for several months now as demand rebounds.  U.S. market balances are tight, with commercial crude inventories of 411.6 million barrels, 13 percent below the…